Spiders rally, but can't deny Owls

Roundup

Junior forward Lavoy Allen walked to midcourt seconds after the final buzzer in the Atlantic 10 Conference championship game, smiled and raised three fingers.

No. 17 Temple was once again the conference champion, although this time the top-seeded Owls got a scare from No. 3 seed Richmond in a 56-52 victory Sunday in Atlantic City, N.J.

"All three years we haven't been picked to win the championship or not even come close," Allen said after Temple (29-5) earned its third straight automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and is the No. 5 seed in the East Region. "We were underrated at the beginning of the season and we found a way to get through that and win as a team. This year was the toughest of the three so it definitely feels good to win."

Ryan Brooks hit four free throws — both 1-and-1 opportunities — in the final 50 seconds and the Owls had to survive a game-tying 3-point attempt by David Gonzalvez with 7 seconds to play.

Ramone Moore hit three free throws in the final 5 seconds to wrap up the school's ninth conference tournament title.

"Once he made it a two-possession game, I was excited," Allen said. "I was ready to get the game over with."

Richmond (26-8), the No. 7 seed in the South Region, came close to dethroning the Owls, rallying from a 12-point, second-half deficit. The Spiders not only had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds but they also missed a couple of shots they normally make with Ryan Butler blowing a fast-break layup and conference player-of-the-year Kevin Anderson missing a short jumper in the lane in the final minutes.

"It was a fun game to play in," Butler said after Richmond just missed winning its first conference title. "Obviously we would have liked to been on the other side, but Temple is tough. They were tough all year long. It was a great game to play in."

Tournament MVP Juan Fernandez scored 18 points and Brooks and Moore finished with 12 each for Temple, which avenged a 71-54 loss at Richmond last month.

Anderson scored nine of his 14 points in the final 7:06 to get the Spiders close.

SEC final

In Nashville, Tenn., John Wall scored seven of his 15 points in overtime, and No. 2 Kentucky (32-2) rallied from five down with 2:28 left in regulation to beat Mississippi State 75-74 for the Wildcats' 26th SEC tournament title.

Mississippi State (23-11) lost for the second time to the Wildcats, the No. 1 seed in the East Region, this season after leading late in regulation. The Bulldogs blew a seven-point lead Feb. 16, and lost that game 81-75 in overtime. Ravern Johnson scored 20 points to lead Mississippi State.

Eric Bledsoe, another member of Calipari's first recruiting class, finished with 18 points. Patrick Patterson had 15, and DeMarcus Cousins finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Cousins' layup with one-tenth of a second remaining in regulation off Wall's missed 3-pointer forced overtime and set off a wild Kentucky celebration.

"How did we win this game? How did we go to overtime? I don't know," Calipari said.

Big Ten final

In Indianapolis, Evan Turner had 31 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 5 Ohio State (27-7) over Minnesota 90-61. The Buckeyes (27-7), the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, made nine 3-pointers in the second half to pull away after leading by just three points at halftime. Lawrence Westbrook scored 17 points for the Gophers (21-13), who are the No. 11 seed in the West Region.

WOMEN Big South final

In High Point, N.C., Devon Brown scored 24 points and banked in a runner with 4 seconds left to snap a tie as Liberty (28-4) recovered after blowing a 20-point lead to beat Gardner-Webb 68-66 for its 13th Big South title in 14 years. Dominique Hudsonscored 17 points for Gardner-Webb (28-4).

Pac-10 final

In Los Angeles, Nnemkadi Ogwumike had 16 points and 10 rebounds as No. 2 Stanford (31-1) rolled to a 70-46 victory over 23rd-ranked UCLA for its eighth Pac-10 tournament championship. Jasmine Dixon scored 20 points before fouling out with 5:18 remaining for the Bruins (24-8).

Big 12 final

In Kansas City, Mo., Danielle Adams scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half, as11th-ranked Texas A&M (25-7) held off No. 12 Oklahoma 74-67. Amanda Thompson had 20 points and 19 rebounds for the Sooners (23-10).